SFI Community Lecture - Biology and creativity: Why must we write, draw, sing, and dance

The Lensic Performing Arts Center

Community Event

7:30 pm – 9:00 pm

May 31st, 2016

Speaker:

Lynda Barry

Creative activities are too often thought of as childhood pastimes, and many of us gave them up early in life. But why do we long for them still? Are creativity and biology interconnected? Artist and author Lynda Barry thinks everything we call “art” has something in common, something that feels alive and is contained and transported by something that is not alive -- a book, a song, or a painting. She explores our innate ability to work with images and asks what the biological function of this thing we call “the arts” might be. Caution: This talk includes swear words, party tricks, and jokes about balls.

Lynda Barry is assistant professor of interdisciplinary creativity at the Wisconsin Institute of Discovery’s Image Lab. Widely credited with expanding the literary, thematic, and emotional range of American comics through her groundbreaking weekly strip Ernie Pook’s Comeek, she has written 17 books, worked as a commentator for NPR, and adapted her novel into a long-running off-Broadway play.

Generous underwriting from Thornburg Investment Management, with additional support from The Lensic Performing Arts Center, makes this series possible.